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He has been at the helm of the DCEDC for four months following the retirement of longtime director Bill Chaudoir in December.

Grenfell's new business fills a fitness niche in the region and meets a demand for a CrossFit center. Currently, the closest center is in Green Bay and it has attracted a following of Door County residents, Grenfell said.

While the DCEDC works to foster and assist businesses that add to the county's economy, another goal of agency is solving the region's worker shortage.

"The biggest challenge to economic development in the county is the workforce shortage," Frostman said.

The main impediment to growing the county's economy is a lack of people to fill jobs across the manufacturing, business, health care and tourism spectrum, he said. Along with the workforce shortage is a lack of affordable housing for workers and their families.

Frostman brings commercial real estate, financing and development experience to his role with the DCEDC and said he is eager to lead the agency to solve workforce challenges. His former career was in commercial real estate lending in the Twin Cities. After nine years in the field, Frostman said, it wasn't fulfilling, and he began to explore nonprofit management options.

"Then this job opened and this is where I can use my background, my skills and help a wider swath of people than I was in the lending world," he said. "I have a good background for this."

Frostman's predecessor, Chaudoir, led an initiative in September to develop a plan to address worker and housing problems.

The three-pronged plan includes a program targeting the county's school districts to retain high school graduates or entice college graduates to return to the area; increasing affordable housing; and developing a marketing campaign targeting vacationers to promote relocation to Door County.

Grenfell and his wife, who is a dentist, are representative of young professionals moving to the county, establishing roots and envisioning new businesses. Besides adding jobs to the economy, the new businesses contribute to the tax base and vitality of the area, Frostman said.

"They are just one of the success stories and there are so many more possibilities," Frostman said. "I'm excited as we implement this strategic plan."'